‘Afrobeats: The Backstory’ rides on Boomplay to chronicle story of Nigeria’s music industry

By Ifechukwude Kainebi

AFROBEAT as a music culture is surely getting its deserved attention across the world, even moreso now with heavy investment from the music streaming giants.

Over the past decade, a new generation of Nigerian pop stars, like Burna Boy and Wizkid, who recently won the prestigious Grammy Awards, D’Banj, Davido, Tiwa Savage and Niniola among others have seen the sounds of their Afrobeats music win fans far beyond the shores of the country.

These stars like the progenitor of the genre, the legendary Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, are selling out concert venues in New York, Paris and London, and performing at major music festivals. For instance, when Davido, one of Nigeria’s biggest pop stars and prime mover of the culture, performed in Suriname, a tiny country in the northeastern pocket of South America in May 2017, 10,000 people reportedly turned up to the amazement of Davido.

The sound of the culture is not only loved by audience; world-famous music stars are falling heads over heels for the beats from the genre. American pop star, Drake, notably featured Wizkid on One Dance, a huge 2016 summer hit that topped Billboard’s Hot 100 for 10 weeks and DJs like Major Lazer and Snake are collaborating with Nigerian stars. Migos’ Quavo featured Davido on his debut album and Ciara credited Tiwa Savage as an inspiration for a single she released.

 As a genre, Afrobeats has also made inroads at the world’s largest music labels, as Sony Entertainment and Universal Music Group with record labels like Def Jam Recordings, Island UK, EMI and Cash Money Records had to expand their operational tentacles and set up new ventures in Africa, with Nigeria as their major market

 In the past two years, both label giants have set up shop in Nigeria, signing up several Afrobeats stars to publishing and distribution deals. UMG is home to Drake, Eminem, Kanye West, Rihanna and Taylor Swift. 

 The Afrobeats story is getting told, just as the culture is crossing the threshold of bit-part storytelling, into advanced narrative-driven projects, documenting the rise of a genre on the point of being a global movement.

Then comes the …Backstory

DURING Easter holidays, Afrobeats: The Backstory, a nine-part documentary film featuring the origins of the African sound culture produced by filmmaker and culture custodian, Ayo Shonaiya and powered by Boomplay, a music and video streaming cum download service platform will premiere.

The documentary, according to Shonaiya, is to put roots to the history, growth, evolution and export of Afrobeat as a genre in Africa, with timelines, first-hand accounts and insights into the evolution of Nigerian music, especially Afrobeats, as the story has often been disputed.

 Shonaiya adds that the production, which features interviews from various culture custodians, artistes, and music producers, also tells the story of the exponential rise of Afrobeat and how it became one of Africa’s biggest international exports. He further stated that beyond putting money in the pockets of creators, Boomplay Music is supporting an industry in need of documentation

 The explosion of the genre as a sound culture has been a decade-long journey with so many actors. The culture has provided a long stream of heroes, working to advance the music. From artists to producers, businessmen and fans who also double as harbingers, the story of Afrobeats’ creation and advancement is like a labyrinth.

As a 90s pipedream, nursed by an emerging generation with a hangover for reggae, hip-hop, and local traditional sounds, Afrobeat is currently considered within the framework of global pop culture. Thanks to Burna Boy and Wizkid, for bringing home the coveted Grammy, like 9ice once in one of records, to show that indeed the Afrobeat sound is a culture and movement.

As the largest music streaming platform in Sub-Saharan Africa, Boomplay has powered several activations across the continent. In Nigeria, it supported events like Felabration, Tiwa Savage’s 49- 99, Burnaboy’s African Giant album release, and several other African artistes’ album release events.

Over the years, the platform has been a core influencer of Nigerian music. In 2019, it launched a nationwide campus tour that rewarded artistes and brought premium music to students at reduced costs. It has also powered several talk shows and projects for upcoming artistes.